It was very agonizing to have an email from a brother in
which he asked me to assist him refuting some so-called
Muslim ignorants who accused Prophets Alaihimus Salam
being Sinful and Polytheists (Ma’azALLAH). As a matter
of fact, the insults of the Prophets made by the deviant
sects and insolent individuals have encouraged some
people to openly slander and ridicule the Prophets. In
addition to this, there has arisen a sect which says
that the Prophets are sinners and even polytheists and
Infidels (May Allah forbid!), believing that the
Prophets were polytheists and Infidels and major sinners
and only became Prophets after repenting (Tauba).

It is incumbent upon each and every Muslim to affirm
faith (have Imân) in all the Prophets, in such a manner
that one does not differ between the Prophets in their
core Prophethood. Furthermore, one should respect all
the Prophets and believe that they are free from any
sin, (major or minor) or imperfections; before their
declaration of Prophethood or after, is also an
essential element in belief. This is the sound position
and this is the opinion of the majority of scholars.

The Major and Minor
Sins:

It must be known that leaving obligatory (farḍ) or
necessary (wājib) acts even once without excuse is
considered an enormity (kabīra). Likewise, committing
the unlawful (Harām) is also considered an enormity.
Leaving the sunna act once without excuse due to
laziness or taking the matter lightly is considered a
minor sin (ṣaghīra), as is committing a disliked action
(makrūh). However, habitually leaving the sunnah or
committing disliked actions also becomes an enormity,
though they are considered enormities beneath other
enormities. This is because major and minor are relative
terms, and thus it is said,
“The good deeds of the
pious are the sins of the intimate (muqarrabīn).”

Sunnah here is taken in
the juridical sense where it refers to an action
regularly performed by the Messenger of Allāh SallAllaho
Alaihi wa Sallam and left at times in order for it not
be taken as an obligation. This is then sub-categorized
into the emphasized sunnahs and the non-emphasized
sunnahs, the latter being more like the mustaHabb
(preferred) acts, i.e., those performed by the Messenger
SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam sometimes or encouraged in
general.

Infallibility of the
Prophets:

The Prophets (upon them be Blessings and Peace) are all
free from major and minor sins, enormities, unbelief,
and wicked acts before and after receiving Prophethood (Nubuwwah).
However, some slips and mistakes have escaped them.

An example of a slip (zalla) is when Ādam Alaihis Salam
ate from the tree, and an example of a mistake (khaṭa’)
is when Mūsā Alaihis Salam killed a member of Pharaoh’s
people. He did not intend to kill him, but only to
strike him with his hand in order to push him away from
the Israelite. Thus, the strike was intentional, but the
killing a mistake. The killing was also a slip, because
every mistake is a slip, but not every slip is a
mistake. Therefore, between the two is the
universal-particular relationship. A slip sometimes
occurs by mistake, sometimes out of forgetfulness,
sometimes out of inattentiveness, and sometimes out of
leaving the more worthy or preferred action.

Imām 'Umar al-Nasafī states in his Tafsīr,
“The Imāms of Samarqand
do not use the word zalla for acts committed by the
Prophets (upon them be blessings and peace) because a
zalla is a type of sin. Instead, they say, “They
performed the good act (fāḍil) and left the preferred
one (afḍal), and they were lightly reproved for it,
because for prophets to leave the more preferred act is
equivalent to others leaving an obligation (wājib).”

Another view is that the slip of a Prophet or a Friend
of Allāh Most High is a means of closeness to Him. Abū
Sulaymān al-Dārānī (may Allāh have mercy on him) states:

“Dāwūd Alaihis Salam did
not perform an act more beneficial for him than a
misdeed. He continued to flee from it toward his Lord
until he reached Him. Hence, the misdeed was the cause
of his fleeing toward Allāh, away from himself and the
world.”

“What has been stated in
the Holy Qur’an as regards to the ‘error’ of Prophet
Adam and Allah’s reprimand shows the high status of
Prophet Adam and his closeness to the Almighty Allah.”[Ashi’ah al-Lam’at Vol
1 Page 40]

Furthermore, it is Allah’s will, whoever He reprimands
or punishes, even though the error committed by His
slave, may not have reached the level in which we may
say that it was a ‘sin’. No one has the authority to
utter anything. There is a criteria and a standard for
respect which is necessary to behold, and this standard
of respect is that when Allah has reprimanded some of
His Prophets, who are the closest to Him, or when one
some occasions the Prophets or the Messengers expressed
humility, by which someone may assume a defect in these
prophets, then it is not permissible for us that we
ponder into this and say the words of reprimand or
humility to these noble prophets.

There are a number of explanations for why Syeduna Aadam
Alaihis Salam ate from the forbidden tree. One is that
he ate from it out of forgetfulness. Another is that he
did not eat from the specific tree that Allāh forbade,
but from another tree of the same type, assuming that
the prohibition of Allāh was only regarding the specific
tree, as Allāh said, “but approach not this tree.” He
thus chose the less superior or suboptimal (rukhṣa)
path, in accord with the wisdom of Allāh in order
illustrate the weakness of the human ability and
condition and to express the strength of divine
forgiveness. This is why a Hadīth states, “If you did
not sin, Allāh would bring forth a people who would sin
and seek forgiveness and Allāh would forgive them”
(Muslim, Tirmidhī).

Also Ādam’s Alaihis Salam offense was in Paradise,
which was not considered an abode of accountability (dār
al-taklīf ), in spite of the fact that Allāh forbade him
from eating from the tree. In other words, he had no
knowledge of the consequences for disobedience. Thus his
disobedience was not open defiance as in the case of
Satan.

Imam Qadi `Iyad in al-Shifa' said that
the Jumhur (Consensus)
of the Jurists from the schools of Malik, al-Shafi`i,
and Abu Hanifa, agree that the Prophets are protected
from all minor sins because one is required to follow
them in the minutest matters. It is even reported from
Malik that this is obligatory to believe.

Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini's (d. 418) position was that
no sin great or small
issues from Prophets whether deliberately or by mistake
and this is also our position.[Taj al-Din al-Subki
Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya al-Wusta as cited in the Kubra
(4:260)]

Imam al-Zarqani said in his monumental commentary on al-Qastallani’s
al-Mawahib al-Laduniyya (5:361) [Al-Qastallani’s
original text is in parentheses):

(And among his Mu'jizaat
is that he is immune from sins) before Prophethood and
after it (both great and small, both by deliberate
commission and by mistake) according to the soundest
view, outwardly and inwardly, in secret and in public,
in earnest and in jest, in contentment and in anger. And
how not, when the Companions were unanimous in following
him and faithfully imitating him in all his acts? (As
were the Prophets)

Imam Taj al-Din al-Subki said:

"The Ummah concurs on
the true immunity ('isma) of Prophets, in what pertains
to conveyance and other, from grave and small,
contemptible sins as well as persistence in small sins
but there is disagreement over small sins that do not
detract from their rank. The Mu'tazila and many others
allow them. The preferred view is that they are
precluded because we have been ordered to follow them in
what issues from them; how then could something
inappropriate occur on their part? As for those that
deemed it possible, they did not do so on the basis of
any textual stipulation or proof."

That is, they only clang to externalities which, if they
followed their logical conclusions, would lead them to
violate consensus and take positions no Muslim takes, as
expounded by `Iyad [in al-Shifa'].

A very Interesting
Fact:

It is stated in Radd al MuHtar,
“The Prophets are
protected from yawning, as yawning is from the Satan.
The best way to stop this is that when one starts to
feel yawning then he/she should immediately think (in
their hearts) that the Prophets never yawned and were
protected from it. By going this, the yawning shall
immediately terminate.”[Radd al-Mohtar – Vol.
1 Pg. 336]

Any person having a slight Common Sense would be able to
conclude that when the Exalted Prophets Alaihimus Salam
are protected from Yawing as it is from Satan then how
come the Prophets be accused of committing the sins or
being the culprits?

CONCLUSION

Allah SubHanuhu wa Ta'ala is the Lord and Creator of the
Prophets and they are His beloved. He can mention their
mistakes in whatever way He wishes and they can
demonstrate their humility to Him in whatever way they
wish. We have no right to speak about their mistakes or
disrespect and slander them unless we want our record
books blackened with sins. Allah SubHanuhu wa Ta'ala has
ordered us to respect and revere His Prophets. If a
Prophet became a sinner, both opposing him and obeying
him would become necessary, and this is a concentration
of two opposite things. So, the majority of the Scholars
including the Imams of the Four Schools of Law followed
what they considered to be the stronger position, namely
that Prophets are protected even from minor sins.
Beware... Beware.. Beware O My Muslim Brothers and
Sisters!! To disrespect any Prophet, to find any faults
or defect in them or to be rude or insolent to these
Prophets is Kufr (Infidelity).

May ALLAH keep
us and our Generations be respectful towards the
exalted Prophets Alaihimus Salam and protect us
and our Generations for the misguided sects and
deviant indivisuals. May ALLAH keep us on the
path of those whom HE have favoured and refrain
us from the path and even the shadow of those
who earned HIS anger and those who are astray...
Aameen!!